The seats for regional elections in Abruzzo they opened at 7 and will close this evening to 23. At the end of the day, counting operations will begin. Voting takes place in 305 Municipalities: the total number of voters is 1.208.276 of which 592.041 men and 616.235 women out of a registered population of 1.275.950. There are 1.634 polling stations, 13 of which are hospital locations. The sections are a Chieti 460, a L'Aquila 405, a Pescara 396 ea Teramo 373. In the 2019 regional elections, 53% of voters voted, a clear decrease compared to the previous elections, those of 2014, when 61,56% of those entitled to vote went to vote. In the most recent elections, those of 2022, 63,99% of Abruzzo people went to the polls.
Abruzzo regional elections: given turnout will be decisive
It will prove decisive in today's challenge attendance data. Five years ago Marcus Marsilius, outgoing governor and re-nominated, obtained 48,03% of the votes, his coalition 49,20%. The then centre-left candidate, John Legnini reached 31,29%; his coalition, with 7 lists, reached 30,64%.
Abruzzo regional elections, who are the challengers
The challengers of this electoral round are Marcus Marsilius, candidate of the center, and Luciano D'Amico, supported by the so-called wide field, the centre-left alliance that goes from the Democratic Party to the 5 Star Movement, up to the former Terzo Polo di Azione and Italia Viva. It must be said that just a few weeks ago the two would not have imagined having the spotlight of all of Italy focused on their respective electoral committees. The tension is palpable: in the final rush that led to the opening of the polls, all the protagonists of national politics rushed to the four provinces of Abruzzo to guarantee their support: testimony that the match played here is not just a local dispute, but something more.
Abruzzo regional elections: test after the Sardinia effect
The final result, however, will be decided by the voters of Abruzzo. From 7am to 23pm, when the polls are open, the ball is all theirs. Meanwhile, in the long electoral silence, political leaders browse through predictions and cultivate hopes. On both sides, all eyes are on the turnout data. With the second partial data, that of 19pm, which could already dampen enthusiasm or increase fears. The centre-right, in support of Marsilio, is convinced that it can achieve a historic result: confirming an outgoing president at the helm of the Region. The centre-left, with a very wide field in support of D'amico, believes in a comeback that was considered almost impossible at the start of the competition. The response of the Sardinian polls has rekindled the spirits of the opposition: it is the "Sardinia effect", as many define it, which has made the idea that a mini-test for national politics could be played out in Abruzzo ever more concrete. The prime minister Giorgia Meloni, after forcing the Sardinian candidacy of Paul Truzzu, puts his face on another flagship candidate: the very faithful Marsilio, first President of the Region with FdI share. The centre-left, on the other hand, highlights the nervousness and concern of its opponents and insists on the fact that a defeat of Meloni's candidate in Abruzzo could represent a serious blow for the government. Hypothesis rejected by the centre-right leaders, who united on stage in Pescara downplayed it: no backlash for the majority. However, the Abruzzo polls remain a further test, after the Sardinian one, to weigh the internal balance between the governing parties. Also in view of the European elections.
